Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four) (19 page)

“Maybe that’s why the stalker has been quiet. Maybe this isn't connected and Cordelia got herself pregnant, told the man, and he didn’t like the idea of being a daddy.”

Whitefox opened a plastic bag he pulled from his pocket. “We better test it to make sure it’s not a false positive. Can we ship it back to FBI West?”

Elizabeth nodded. “We can and will.”

“So
, we have a woman saving movie tickets, little papers with hearts drawn on it, sexy underthings, and a pregnancy test with a positive result.”

Elizabeth started thinking about it. “I don’t want to discount the nutjob yet, Cal. I don’t believe in coincidences. I really wish Julian
would find me a body, and then we can go from there.”

“What if it’s not our stalker?”

She shrugged. “We hand it off and head home. If I can’t link it to the stalker, then I can’t justify being here.”

He nodded.

“You want to stay don’t you?” she said, softly.

“As pissed as I am at her, I feel bad. I promised her I’d keep her safe
, and I feel like I need to give her some closure on this. Then I can figure out what to do about the woman herself.”

Elizabeth stood and grabbed the box. “Then we stay
, and we get the closure she needs.”

C
allen smiled at her. “Thank you, Lyzee, for helping me with this. I know you’d rather be at home with Ethan and CJ.”

“And
don’t forget you. I promised you I’d not let you go out alone if I could go.”

Whitefo
x pulled off his rubber gloves. “Come on, let’s go back and sort through this stuff and pack it up.”

“Good
idea.” They walked through the house, and out the front door. As they approached the Escalade, Elizabeth heard her name called and looked over her shoulder.

Callen moved to stand in front of her when he saw the people behind the house moving towards Elizabeth.

“Load this up, Cal,” she said, handing him the box. “We need that secured for FBI West.”

“Lyzee be careful.” He didn’t like the drunkenness
and the fact that Desdemona was glaring at Elizabeth like she was the enemy.

“Hey everyone! Look who it is. This is the almighty Elizabeth
Blackhawk and apparently she feels like mingling with the peasants. This here, ladies, is the woman that’s supposed to be my best friend, but in actuality she’s fucking my fiancé.”

Elizabeth let out a breath and kept moving towards them. “Desdemona, I think you’ve
had too much to drink, it’s dropped your IQ quite a few points this evening,” answered Elizabeth, shaking her head.

“Oh, I stopped in at the bed and breakfast. The owner told me how cute a couple you were and all in love, making out
, and holding hands. Then I saw you while I was in the liquor store. It was quite touching how the two of you were whispering and the best part was the ending. I truly loved when he tossed you over his shoulder and put you so lovingly in the car.”

Elizabeth started laughing
. “Wow, got some time on your hands, Des? You would think that you would be more concerned for your sister’s whereabouts and less about what I do at lunch time. Now, if you’re done, I’m going to go find your sister while you act twelve and get shitfaced with your friends.”

“Desdemona,” Callen shouted. “What the
hell is wrong with you?” Elizabeth was off-limits, even if the woman was drunk.

“Oh
, everyone meet the other player in this drama. This sexy man is Callen Whitefox, my fiancé, and the man jumping my friend.”

“Jesus
, Desdemona! Are you out of your mind? She’s your boss and can fire your ass. Knock it off!” he stated, emphatically.

“Let’s just go Cal,” said Elizabeth. She took her eyes off Desdemona for one second, and that’s all it took.
When she turned back around the slap clipped her square on the cheek and stung. Elizabeth counted to ten and didn’t move. If she looked at the woman she was going to punch her in the face and break her nose.

“
Oh my God, Lyzee! Are you okay?” Whitefox moved towards her, but Desdemona stepped between them.

“For one damn second
, can you stop running to her like she’s the fucking Goddess Aphrodite? For once, can you open your damn eyes and see that your attachment to her is ruining us?”

Whitefox stared at her
, unsure what to say. He was just too shocked at her behavior and words.

Then
, Desdemona struck again, punching him in the chest and aiming for his face with the next swing.

Callen
took the hit and tried to avoid the next one. There was no way he was putting his hands on her, even though he would like to shake some sense into her.

Before
Desdemona could strike him again, Elizabeth was on her and had her in a headlock, dragging her backwards towards the water. She really hoped there weren’t any alligators in there, but she had to put an end to this, and now. 

“Let go of me! You’re a man stealing bitch!” Desdemona fought but was out weighed.

“Keep your fucking hands off Callen. I don’t know what you grew up thinking was acceptable. In our family we don’t put our damn hands on each other in anger.” Elizabeth shoved with all her force and knocked Doctor Adare backwards and into the water. “Cool off for a while Desdemona.”

Elizabeth watched the woman come to the surface sputtering, and when her friends ran towards her to help her out, her phone began ringing. “Awesome timing.”

“Elizabeth,” Blackhawk said into the phone. “You need to get home fast. The jet’s ready. It leaves as soon as you board.”

“What’s wrong?” Suddenly her heart stopped in her chest. “Is CJ okay?”
She’d never forgive herself if something happened to her son while she was away.

“It’s granddad. I’m sorry to tell you this over the phone, but he has congestive heart failure and has for the last six months.
He’s not going to make it through the night. Doctor Wolman just saw him. He’s sedated, but you have very little time to get here before he’s gone.”

Elizabeth ran towards the
Escalade. “We have to go Callen. It’s granddad!”

He ran after her, not even looking over his shoulder at his fiancé sitting in the swamp water sobbing hysterically
and calling his name. The man had one thing on his mind.
Family!

“Okay Ethan, tell him we love him, just in case,” she said, softly, hoping and praying that the jet would get them there in time.

“Be safe, and I love you and need you right now. Please tell Callen, and hold him up as best you can. This is going to crush him.”

Elizabeth understood
. This was the man who raised both him and Callen. Timothy was their dad for years. The man who taught them everything about being the men that they were today. “I’m coming Ethan. Hang in there okay?”

“I’m trying,” he whispered softly
, before hanging up the phone and going back in to sit with the man that taught him how to live and love.

Whitefox drove as fast as he could to the airport. Elizabeth wasn’t telling him what had happened, and that had him scared shitless. It meant it had to be pretty bad. As he drove, Elizabeth called the bed and breakfast, speaking to the owner and informing her they were going sightseeing out of the area. To hold their rooms, and they would be needing them the rest of the week.

When
Elizabeth hung up the phone, she still didn’t say anything to him. Now Callen was feeling sick to his stomach. As the airport loomed ahead of them, he pulled in and parked in the garage.

Elizabeth hopped out and grabbed her purse and badge. They were going to need them to clear security with their guns and evidence.
Pulling the evidence box, they started towards the terminal. She could see that the lights on the jet were already on, and true to his words, Ethan Blackhawk, even in his own grief was taking care of them out in the field. Now it was just a matter of getting them home in time.

As they entered the gate
, they pulled their badges and guns handing them to security. They waited while they checked to make sure that the plane was FBI property and the correct names were on the passenger manifesto.

Once approved, Elizabeth grabbed the box and
raced from the ramp to the tarmac. Whitefox was right behind her, and they had the stares of other people but didn’t care. They needed to get in the air as soon as they could.

Running up the step
s, the co-pilot was waiting. The door was pulled closed and they began rolling before the locks were engaged. 

“Get us in the air fast
and then we need to be alone,” she ordered, buckling in and sitting beside Callen.

“Yes
, Director Blackhawk,” he answered, entering the cockpit and closing the door to give them privacy.

Whitefox needed to know
, and he couldn’t wait any longer. “What happened? Did he fall and trip over something?” He went with everything that he could think of that wouldn’t be horrible, and that the old man could overcome. Besides he was a tough old man, and this would be nothing for him to bounce back from.

Elizabeth looked over at him,
taking his hand in hers. She told him what her husband told her, and she did what she promised. She held him up as he broke.

“No. I’m not ready!” He couldn’t believe it. “I just saw him, and he said he was fine.
The day before I left on my last assignment, I stopped in to see him and he was just fine!”

Elizabeth squeezed his hand, and the man just stared at her, tears beginning to slide down his cheeks. 

“They have to be wrong! I can’t believe it. I want to talk to him!” He pulled out his cell phone and started dialing his grandfather’s house. When his brother answered, his voice shook. “I want to talk to him, Ethan. Put him on the damn phone!”

Blackhawk felt his heart squeeze in his chest for the pain his brother was feeling. He knew when his mom died how horrible the void felt. His brother didn’t feel that when his own mother passed, because she never loved him like Timothy did. This was like losing
the only parent that ever read him stories, tucked him in and helped him with homework after school.

When
Ethan lost his mom it was the same, but he’d only had her thirteen years. Callen had Timothy as his surrogate dad for over twenty seven years. That was his dad, and now the hole would be gaping.

“Cal, he’s resting. I can hold the phone to his ear and you can say your goodbye. He’ll hear you.”

“I don’t want to say goodbye, Ethan! Tell me it’s all a mistake. Tell me that I could have been with him the last two days, instead of running in circles after Desdemona!”

Blackhawk felt his pain. “Cal, you need to say your goodbyes now
, just in case you don’t make it back here in time.”

Whitefox started sobbing. “Please tell me it’s a mistake,” he whispered through the tears. “I’m not ready
, Ethan. I have so much left to learn from him.”

“It’s time Callen. I’m sorry. Pull it together and say goodbye. He doesn’t have long
, and he’s holding out for you and Elizabeth.”

Callen
glanced down at his watch. They had over two hours to go, then landing and the drive. It was going to take them at least three hours to get there. He didn’t want him to suffer. The man who gave him everything he ever had, who loved him first.

“Okay, I
’ll say goodbye.”

Elizabeth squeezed his hand and offered him any strength that she had to get him through what was coming. “I’m here Callen,” she whispered, and he nodded, wiping his eyes with his free hand as he bala
nced the phone on his shoulder. Immediately, she went into his lap and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, offering him whatever she could to just hold him up.

“Okay, I’m holding the phone to his ear. Say your goodbye Cal.”

Callen sniffled. “Granddad, I don’t want you to go, but I know you can’t stay. Thank you for everything you gave me. I wouldn’t have made it without you. I would have overdosed on drugs in some backroom of a flop house, like my mother. I wouldn’t have lived, because before you I had no reason to survive. When my mom died, you told me I’d be okay and I believed you. I don’t have that rock anymore. You were the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m sorry that I was bad at times,” he sobbed.

Elizabeth
kissed him on the forehead and let him hold onto her while he spoke. “I’ll be your rock,” she whispered, softly.

“If I could take all the times back
that I made you mad or worried, I would. You were my dad and my mom, and today I’m losing both at the same time. I’m going to miss you!”

Elizabeth wiped his cheek and rested her
lips against his forehead, giving him tenderness and love while he finished.

“It’s okay for you to go
Granddad. Don’t suffer for the next three hours. You did your job. Go be with grandma and just know you did a damn good job. I love you, Granddad. I love you so much,” his voice broke, and the tears came, and he handed the phone to Elizabeth.